Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. And neither did a former Surrey Herald reporter expect to stumble across a 26-year-old Michael Palin, dressed as a "scruffy old greybeard in a rowing boat", as he cycled to work along the banks of the River Thames.

That reporter, Andrew McGeehan, now 64, spotted the cast and crew of Bunn, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot – what would later become known as Monty Python’s Flying Circus – hard at work one morning in the late 1960s.

For Mr McGeehan, a recent return to the area brought back memories of that chance sighting at Cowey Sale in Walton.

Mr McGeehan, who worked on the paper for six years, believes he could have inadvertently penned one of the first stories written about the Monty Python crew, when he stumbled across the film unit in action on his way to work on a sunny morning in July 1969.

He said: “As a keen 20-year-old reporter, I decided to find out what was happening. Subsequently, a story appeared on the entertainments page, on July 25 1969. But if only I’d known then what I know now.”

The story, under the headline ‘Whizzo! It’s the Admiral doing the death dive’, detailed some of the spots where filming was taking place – the flats in Hepworth Way and Marshall’s roundabout to name two.

Recently moving back to Weybridge after a long stay in Essex, Mr McGeehan began reminiscing about the story, particularly after the announcement of the Monty Python reunion concerts this summer.

He decided to track down the cutting, which was located at the Surrey History Centre in Woking.

“Because I wouldn’t have recognised them, I don’t know how many Pythons-to-be were on the riverside location that morning,” he said.

“I spoke to Michael Palin, if only to ask his age. John Cleese must have been there also, because there is broadcast footage of him sprawled on a desk, dressed in a bikini, with the river as the background.

“Judging by the list of locations, several Pythons, perhaps all of them, were in Walton that sunny morning making the most of nearby locations.

“When asked, I recommended a pub to them close to the Herald’s office, then in Bridge Street, The Duke's Head.

"No-one batted an eyelid when they came in, not surprising considering they had yet to achieve national fame.”

The first episode was broadcast on October 5 1969. Mr McGeehan added: “I was thrilled to see the scene of Michael Palin rowing the Thames appear on the TV screen exactly as I had witnessed at Cowey Sale.

“I was one of the millions of fans who was hooked on the zany humour right from the start. It broke new ground in TV comedy and was an example of the creativity of the sixties.”

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